The DGS won the award for "anticipating the accessibility needs of all blind people working in occupations where they will be doing business with the state," said Dr. Marc Maurer, president of the NFB.
Maurer presented Secretary of General Services Peta Richkus with the NFB's Accessibility Leadership Award in recognition of what he called "her exemplary commitment to information access for blind Marylanders."
"DGS is proud to be the first State agency in the nation to win NFB certification," said Secretary Richkus. "This certification shows DGS stands behind blind Marylanders' -- in fact, blind Americans' -- right to full and active participation on the Internet."
The NFB certification program certifies Web sites and applications as accessible to blind people when using talking screen access technology. Certification indicates that the site meets technical specifications of accessibility and allows blind users to perform all functions on the site.
More importantly, certifications means usability of the site by the blind is equivalent to usability by the sighted.
Maryland Department of General Services
